Blu-ray

Sometimes we want a movie to fill the gap between repeat viewings of The Dark Knight and Quantum of Solace. Something that doesn’t require turning the surround system up to 11 and banishing the wife and kids to the garden shed. If you feel the same way, then Bride Wars might just fit the bill.

Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway play best friends who fall out when their weddings are booked for the same venue on the same date. Naturally, this causes them to try to ruin each other’s big day by any means possible. It’s not exactly Chaucer, but is pleasingly short (89 minutes), and generates some laughs – helped by the fact that both Hathaway and Hudson are brilliant comic actresses. The ending is a bit disappointing, though, and the male leads are as wet as a dolphin in a tropical thunderstorm.

Like the majority of modern Hollywood flicks, it also looks pretty great in hi-def. While it won’t take your breath away like the usual special effects extravaganza, the AVC 1.85:1 does everything that is asked of it. Delivering a crisp and detailed picture that is capable of exceptional colour reproduction (the brightly coloured lanterns decorating the engagement party in Chapter 12 don’t so much ‘pop’ from the screen as leap out and threaten to stab your eyes). Similarly, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is a lively and expansive affair, with slightly more use of the rears than I honestly expected.

Sadly, the set of extra features is about as skinny as your typical Hollywood starlet. The chief Blu-ray exclusive is Something Old, Something New and What’s That Gonna Cost You?, which features pop-up trivia about wedding-related stuff as well as price-tags informing the viewer how much the dresses and other wedding accoutrements seen in the movie would set you back. Following on from this are seven deleted scenes, short featurettes about wedding dresses and the Plaza Hotel, a couple of improvised pieces of dialogue, lightweight interviews with the two leads, a trio of unfunny sketches and a Digital Copy. Still, I imagine that the film's real target audience won't really care about any of this stuff.

20th Century Fox, Region B/C BD, £29 approx, On sale now
HCC VERDICT: 3/5